


Well, There’s a Story

by Woollycas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s14e13 Lebanon, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 07:30:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17720816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woollycas/pseuds/Woollycas
Summary: Episode Coda for 14x13. Dean and Cas talk after Dean tells his story.





	Well, There’s a Story

“That was quite a story.”

Cas’s deadpan response to Dean’s story leaves him with the usual baffled feeling, no words, just silent wonder at the angel in front of him --his angel, not that version from before. 

Dean’s sitting at his desk chair in his room. He looks at Cas, standing in the liminal space of his bedroom doorway, not quite in the room. He’s awkwardly standing with his hands in his trench coat pockets, like he’s guarding himself, like he’s preparing himself to leave now that he’s caught up on the latest Winchester drama. 

Dean doesn’t want him to leave though. 

“Cas, stay awhile,” he throws out, almost hesitantly.

Cas continues to stand there, just looking at him. Eventually he answers, “Of course,” and walks further into Dean’s room. 

Dean gestures towards his bed, and half-laughing, he says, ”Sit. Jesus, man, you’re making me nervous.”

And as Cas sits, his head tilts slightly in the way that Dean has only come to reluctantly describe in the quiet corner of his thoughts as endearing. His hands come out of the pockets and rest on his lap, and he remains quiet. 

Dean licks his lips and rubs his hands down the length of his jeans as he stands. He’s just a couple feet from Cas now and decides to close the distance and join him on the bed. They’re not quite touching but Dean can see the stubble on Cas’s jawline and the slight crinkles around his inquiring eyes. 

“Um, it’s, uh, good to have you back, man. It was weird seeing the old you.”

“It was weird being the old me.” 

Dean looks confused for a second before realizing Cas isn’t joking about the most recent iteration that Sam and Dean’s time break created, but rather, he means the old him, the one that met Dean and Bobby in a barn all those years ago, the one that rescued Dean from Hell on Heaven’s orders and was lost from the other angels for good. 

Dean smiles and kind of leans into Cas. “We have been through a lot in the last ten years.” He looks over at Cas almost bashfully, but when he looks into Cas’s eyes, he lifts his chin, his voice deeper with emotion, and more boldly admits, “You once said that these years with us were the best years of your life.” He pauses, the words stuck, and quickly adds, “Same.”

“Same?”

Dean rolls his eyes at Cas’s little eyebrow lift. It never fails to send fireworks echoing through his gut. Cas is challenging his lame attempt at communication. In that moment Dean forces himself to realize that he owes Cas more. Cas is his chosen family --hell, he’s more than family, a small voice admits.

Dean’s face softens and he shifts slightly to face him better. It’s slightly awkward and he realizes how very close they are -close enough to feel the warmth coming off Cas through their many mutual layers. 

“Cas, remember all those years ago, you rescued me from Zachariah? I told you don’t ever change?” He places his arm on the back of Cas’s shoulder, his hand momentarily resting near Cas’s neck, an echo of that night, before he pulls away, hesitant with his need to touch and still continue with what he needs to say. 

“You...you have changed. We’ve changed together, and I’m glad of it.” Dean looks around his room, the space more than anywhere that he calls home, a sanctuary, a safe space for confession, and continues. “Seeing that other version of you, seeing that dead stare...you were that hammer that Heaven trained you to be. I mean, man, I’ve seen you like that in the past, so many years ago, but this was still different. And if it was me and Sam that changed you, I guess…” He trails off and stares at the angel. Cas’s lips are a line, soft on the edges. He has a slight fleeting thought -one he has on occasion before cowardice or circumstances push it under -to kiss him. The kiss essentially saying what his clumsy words can’t. But he knows Cas deserves more.

He continues, “You deserve better than me, Cas. But like I told Sam earlier, I’m proud of who I am. I see where we’ve been, what could have happened, and I guess I’d rather have you in my life than have you be a soulless soldier of Heaven.” 

“Dean.” Cas’s voice is rough, and goes soft. “I see that this time with your family, this time with your father, has made you realize some things. You don’t need to be better for me. A wise man once told me that we’re better together. I’ll remind him of that now. We make each other better. And you _are_ the best part of my long existence.”

Cas smiles, in what Dean thinks is a light invitation for him to escape the conversation. He’s not dismissing Dean though, and Dean presses on. 

He takes a deep breath, remembering Cas’s words. He said something else that night as he lay dying. Dean leans a little closer to Cas, his arm bracing himself behind Cas’s back. He’s fully facing Cas now but looks down, focusing on his tie, a tiny white bit of fuzz near the loose knot. 

“Cas, I remember what else you said.” He looks up to see Cas’s eyes a little wide. Swallowing over the lump in his throat, Dean continues, “This is a long time coming, but I need you to know--I want you to know, that I love you.”

The words are out there, and his breath hitches a little bit. Before he can regretfully and wrongly add “as a brother, as family, as…” Cas places both of his hands on the side of Dean’s face, pulls him in and kisses him. It’s slow, soft, and way too brief. But Cas leans his forehead against Dean after and whispers, ‘Ditto.”

Dean’s too lost in the moment -Cas kissed him!--his mind a buzzing whorl of elation and panic, to fully register what he just said. 

After a moment, he pulls back and blinks. “Dude, did you just Swayze me?”

Cas grins and responds, “Maybe.”

“Cas,” Dean pauses, slipping their hands together, “don’t ever change.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again and always for reading this over, [Whichstiel!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstiel/pseuds/whichstiel)


End file.
